Heads, Shoulders, Knees and...?

There was a man on the train last Friday who didn’t know all of the words to Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.

‘But how did you surmise this, David?’, you might ask. ‘Could you see it in his eyes (and ears and mouth and nose)?'. He didn’t announce his gap in knowledge on entering the train. Neither did I pick it up by telepathy. I knew because he was singing it to his child; well, the title anyway.

He started off all confident and jolly (‘Heads, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes’), delighted to spend some quality time with his son (‘Heads, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes’). At the end of the second line a hint of panic entered his voice. He'd reached a mental stumbling block, yet had committed to the song. There was no going forward and no going back. He paused for a moment to catch his breath, then sang the first line again, trying desperately to fit it into the scansion of the third line's melody. 

How hard is it to remember the lyrics to a nine-word song? Is it difficult to list your facial features? This man didn't need a song sheet, but a mirror. It's the child I worry for. His dad is beyond help. 

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